Thursday, January 14, 2010

The parents of a 4-year-old boy disciplined for having long hair have rejected a compromise from a Texas school board that agreed to adjust its grooming policy.

The impasse means pre-kindergartner Taylor Pugh will remain in in-school suspension, sitting alone with a teacher's aide in a library. He has been sequestered from classmates at Floyd Elementary School in Mesquite, a Dallas suburb, since late November.

After a closed-door meeting Monday, the Mesquite school board decided the boy could wear his hair in tight braids but keep it no longer than his ears. But his parents say the adjustment isn't enough for Taylor, who wears his hair long, covering his earlobes and shirt collar.

I've known a lot of parents who have their boys' hair long. And this is absurd. In clearly trying to create heteronormativity among their students, I wonder what would happen in this district if a student came out as gay. Or transgender for that matter. Would they violate the students' civil rights and suspend the person? I'm sure they would.

It gets better too:

The district is known for standing tough on its dress code. Last year, a seventh-grader was sent home for wearing black skinny pants. His parents chose to home-school him.

On its Web site, the district says its code is in place because ''students who dress and groom themselves neatly, and in an acceptable and appropriate manner, are more likely to become constructive members of the society in which we live.''

Great. By "acceptable and appropriate" we mean Christian, conservative, and heterosexual. Fantastic!

And we all know nothing undermines the moral fabric of our society like skinny jeans.

Hell, I'd home school my child too before subjecting them to that. And I don't even support home schooling.